GMRSC Ignite National race of Champions…

THOUSANDS of racing spectators were treated to a grand day of racing on Sunday as the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMRSC) hosted its National Race of Champions.

Saturday’s rains dampened the qualifying session but Sunday’s sunny skies set the tone for a perfect day of racing.

Unveiling its new 1.6 km track, the club also put on a spectacle of groups with battles all day long.

Street and Sport Tuner

The highly competitive Street tuner (1500cc) class of action were the first set of classes out the blocks with Jorge Zafiro Ramirez taking race one ahead of Vicky Persaud and Altabh Khan.

Race two had a different winner with Sanjeev Caimraj taking the chequered flag ahead of Vickey Persaud and Ramirez.

Race three, a combined running with the Sports Tuner (1600cc) class was red flagged after an incident on lap one left two competitor cars and a section of fence damaged.

Due to fading light and the amount of time needed for the clean-up, their race did not restart.

In the earlier Sports Tuner event, Azaad Hassan won race one ahead of Adrian Fernandes and Mohamed Ahmad while Ahmad beat Adrian Fernandes and Darrel Singh of Trinidad, in that order.

Group two
Shan Seejatan’s dominance of the group two class transcended both wet and dry conditions on Sunday as the champion driver overcame challenges all round.

Qualifying second on the grid on Saturday alongside pole sitter Chet Singh, Seejatan was a force to be reckoned with, sweeping up all three wins on the day.

In race one, he finished ahead of Mark Williams and Nasrudeen Mohamed while in race two, he survived an early tussle with Barbados’ Ahmad Esuf who finished second and Williams third.

Race three featured the same running order as race one, Seejatan, Williams and Mohamed.

Group three
It was a similar kind of dominance for Stefan Jeffrey in group three, showcasing the reliability of the Unruly Civic.

The GP3 class was a highly touted one prior to race day but when the dust settled, it was the lone Jeffrey who snagged all three wins.

Jeffrey won race one ahead of Danny Persaud and Vishok Persaud comfortably with race two being a combined fixture with the Starlet Cup.

Again, Jeffrey won convincingly over Neil Persaud and L. Samaroo.

The third race of the day was a GP3/GP4 fixture, which Jeffrey won comfortably ahead of Anand Ramchand and Shairaz Roshandin.

Starlet Cup
The highly anticipated Toyota Starlet cup featured one win a piece for Anand Ramchand and Rameez Mohamed in their two races.

Ramchand picked up the first win ahead of Mohamed and Shairaz Roshandin while the tables were turned in race two; Mohamed beating Ramchand into second place and Danny Persaud.

Unfortunately, fading light and a damp track meant that organisers were not able to complete the third race

Group four
After Saturday’s back and forth with Kristian Jeffrey and Mark Vieira for the group four pole position, taken by Jeffrey on the last lap of the session, there was bound to be a titanic battle come Sunday.

But it was Mark Maloney who produced the most fight for the Guyanese namesake.

In the end though, it was Vieira with two wins on the day.

Superikes
Only one race apiece was available for both the superbikes and 125cc class as a damp track made it unsafe for action.

Matthew Vieira won ahead of Kevin Persaud and Shem Chattersingh.

Radical SR3
The final leg of the Radical Sr3 Caribbean Cup rolled into Guyana as well with Kristian Jeffrey and Kristian Boodoosingh both looking to claim the title.

And things did not get off to a suitable start for the Guyanese when Stuart Maloney won race one ahead of Suleman Esuf and Boodoosingh respectively; Jeffrey finished fourth.

Mark Maloney finished Race two first, ahead of Esuf and Jeffrey with Boodoosingh falling out, leaving an all-out war for the last race and the championship.

And he did it in spectacular fashion. Fading light and a damp track meant that Jeffrey had his work cut out for him and with Boodoosingh on the charge, it was not going to be easy.

However, he managed the eight lap affair with great skill, winning the final race and celebrating his championship win.